Tiger Woods will be a part of the US Ryder Cup bid in some capacity in Italy next year, Captain Zach Johnson said Tuesday.
“Tiger Woods will certainly be part of this Ryder Cup but we still don’t know in what role,” Johnson said at a joint press conference with Europe captain Luke Donald.
“He loves this event and has always regarded it as a priority. I don’t know what role he will have, but we are constantly in touch, and he is a model for everyone.”
Donald added that “this is an event which unites, and represents a source of inspiration for all.”
The two captains were speaking at the ‘Year To Go’ event, to the tourney outside Rome, at which they hit approach shots from the Temple of Venus to a green near the Colosseum set up symbolically for the occasion.
The US team is aiming to repeat their win in Wisconsin in 2021 and triumph on European soil for the first time in 30 years.
Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) chief Giovanni Malagò voiced his hope that an Italian, either current no 1 Giovanni Migliozzi, or 2018 Open champ Francesco Molinari, who has a great Ryder record, might be picked for Team Europe.
“I am following them both”, said Donald.
Malagò added that “great events, once they are over, must leave something on the field: to show future generations something in which they can identify.”
The 2023 Ryder Cup will take place at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome.
